My daughter has an 87 Celebrity with the 2.8 v6 and, I'm not sure which, automatic transmission with 70,xxx miles. It was running great and now the past few weeks she's been having major problems with it and no can seem to figure it out.
The first time she drove to work just fine. When she went to leave in the afternoon the car wouldn't start. We checked the codes and replaced the TPS, MAF, one coil, and the ICM. Each time it would run right for about 100 miles then it would stop again. Evertime she cranks the engine, it starts but immediately dies. We did unplug the TCC and it seemed to help, for a little while but her mileage dropped dramatically.
I'm not sure what the problem is and I'm running out of money to keep fixing it for her. She also works for me and her car being broken is effecting my business.
Please give me advice!!

 

2.8 mpfi... mmmmmmm


So you have had the car for how many miles?

'Wouldn't start" - please explain further.. no noise? clicking? cranking? trying to start? any combustion??

Do you have fuel pressure at the rails?

How old are the spark plugs/wires? Any corrosion on them?

A TCC issue shouldn't prevent the car from starting if memory serves me correctly.

I've knocked a vacuum hose off a 2.8 that went to the evap canister once - but that only caused a stalling/no start issue after a few miles...I overcame that and got home by giving it a lot of gas.

Does giving it more gas pedal help at all?

 

Thanks for responding to my question. We bought the car in the summer of 2013 after she wrecked her previous car. The car turns over strong but will not start. She has had this problem for a while now. We've taken it to various mechanics and they all "fix" something. But the repair only lasts about 100 miles. Then the car starts to stall at stop signs and eventually won't start at all.

I am not a modern day mechanic so I don't know a lot about the computer controlled vehicles. But I do know how to check spark and fuel. When this car decides it's not going to run anymore there is no spark coming off any plug. The fuel seems to be at a good pressure. I have not put a fuel pressure gauge on it yet.

When the mechanics "fix" the car it runs real good for the 100 miles or so. We did have a problem with the TCS so one of the mechanics unplugged it. He said it wouldn't get as good mileage but it wouldn't be too bad. He was way off on that account! The car uses almost twice as much gas! We've replaced the ignition control module, one coil that tested bad, throttle position sensor, throttle air sensor. THe battery has a decent charge.

I'm not sure where else to look and she really needs to start getting to work on time.

 

Something that's not too expensive to try would be a crankshaft position sensor, I have heard that these can break down after getting to normal operating temp and after cooling down will start again,(just a thought)my son has an 88 celebrity and I've been going through the same problems

 

if this is multi port fi, then I urge you to have your injectors tested. I had a similar problem with a 91 lumina and it ended up being bad injectors.

 

I believe it is a multi port fi. One thing we stumbled across is the fuel pump. When we start the engine it runs for 2-3 seconds and dies. When we check for fuel at the rails, after it dies, there is no fuel coming out of the valve.

 

That's possible. I had one in my 87 z24 cavalier 2.8 mpfi that flat out died on me, and one fuel pump that died after it ran for a while.

Do you hear the pump priming the system when you turn on the ignition and WAIT before attempting to start? Or is there no sound?

You can put a fuel pressure gauge on the valve. You should be able to 'rent/borrow' one at an auto parts store such as Autozone.

 

Did you find the problem after all?

 

This is a 5 year old post, I doubt they even have the car anymore, let alone get on this site. If you're having a similar issue, make a post, I'll do my best to help and I'm sure the others here will too.